


The Desert Three

by lostin_space



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, False Accusations, Gen, Guilt, Illegal Activities, Interrogation, Investigations, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, lying, mention of suicide (it's only one line in the final part)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22981609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: Sheriff Valenti Announces Possible Suspect of Desert Three Murders: A 17-Year-Old Male StudentA story in which Alex is blamed for Rosa's murder.
Relationships: Alex Manes & Kyle Valenti, Isabel Evans & Max Evans & Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 47
Kudos: 140





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> HERE IT IS i've been planning this for a long ass time so I'm excited to finally fucking write it. This is another thing in which I'll be dealing with heavy topics, so if you guys notice ANYTHING I should be tagging that I haven't, please let me know! This is going to be told from multiple different povs and a lot of shit is going down. ENJOY!

**_MISSING TEENS: KATE LONG, JASMINE FREDERICK, and ROSA ORTECHO_ **

**_Police Find Bodies of Missing Girls Murdered in the New Mexico Desert_ **

**_Ongoing Investigation On Desert Three; Police Remain Silent On Possible Suspect_ **

**_Townspeople of Roswell, NM Say They Know Who Is Responsible For Desert Three: What Do The Police Have To Say?_ **

**_Sheriff Valenti Announces Possible Suspect of Desert Three Murders: A 17-Year-Old Male Student_ **

“Mr. Valenti, please. You have to know I didn’t do this, I-I promise. I was home that night, ask my dad.”

Jim Valenti stared at Alex Manes as professionally as possible. He’d known Alex since he was born, had seen him when he took his first steps, had been the best man at his father’s wedding. He knew this boy. He _knew_ he couldn’t have done it.

But evidence didn’t lie.

“Mr. Manes, your DNA was found near the site where the bodies were found. How do you explain that?” he asked. He watched Alex’s bottom lip quiver, slowly but surely reverting into that little boy who scraped his knee the first time he got ahold of a skateboard. Jim had watched him develop into a young man. And now he got to watch him be stripped of that.

“I don’t know! I swear I wasn’t there. I swear, I swear, I swear,” Alex insisted, voice thick with tears, “Ask my dad! I was home!”

“We questioned your father earlier this morning,” Jim told him honestly, “He said he thought you were home, but he didn’t see you so he can’t confirm.”

Alex’s eyes widened with utter fear. “He’s lying! Mr. Valenti, you know he’s lying!”

“What does he get out of lying about that, son?” he asked. He knew Jesse could be a bit cruel when it came to parenting, but having a murderer for a son only looked bad on him. There was no reason for lying.

“Because he–” Alex started, but he froze and bowed his head, “I don’t know.”

“Alex, is there something you aren’t telling me?” he asked. Alex didn’t answer the question.

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t.”

“Is there anyone who would frame you?” Jim asked. Alex took a shuttered breath, fat tears falling from his face into the table. The parent in Jim wanted to comfort him, but this was an interrogation.

“I don’t know! I-I don’t even talk to anyone, I didn’t piss anyone off,” he said, sniffling, “Well, I got in that fight with Kyle, but Kyle didn’t do it either. He’s an ass–sorry, sir–but he isn’t a murderer. But neither am I!”

“You know, sometimes we do things and we don’t remember,” Jim said, “Is it possible you blacked out?”

“No,” Alex said firmly, “I remember everything that night. I didn’t blackout. I didn’t kill those girls.”

“There’s been a lot of talk about cult imagery,” Jim said, opening the file and pushing the photos of the girls with their handprints and the oddly decorated cave, “Did that have anything to do with this? Was this an initiation thing? Look at photos, son.”

Alex reluctantly looked up, but it was followed by a wounded noise and he clamped his hands over his eyes. “I love Rosa. And I don’t even know the other two! There’s no cult shit, or-or if there is, it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, _it wasn’t me._ ”

“Okay,” Jim said, pulling the photos away, “Okay, I’m going to go have a talk with the other officers. We don’t have enough to keep you here, but we have too much to let you go. Maybe I can get them to agree to house arrest until we find more evidence in either direction.”

Alex rubbed his eyes and nodded.

Jim felt sick as he left the room, becoming more and more conflicted with each thought. His daughter was dead and the main suspect was a boy who felt like a son. But Rosa being his daughter wasn’t public knowledge, nor could it be, so, as far as anyone knew, there wasn’t any conflict of interest.

He just had to figure this out.

-

Maxwell Evans never claimed to be intelligent.

“Liz,” he whispered, “Can I come in?”

Liz looked up from the counter, face dry and determined. Max had expected to see her cry. It seemed fitting that she wasn’t. She slowly made her way to unlock the door for him. 

It was 11:39 PM on the night that it had been publically announced their possible suspect being Alex Manes. Max felt bad about it. Alex was always nice to him. But, at the end of the day, Isobel came first for him. Liz was a close second.

“I think we might have to postpone our road trip,” Liz said. Max exhaled softly and managed a smile for her. That nagging voice in his mind repeated that he’d killed her sister. He ignored it.

“Raincheck?”

“Yeah.”

Liz stared up at him for a moment, kind and curious eyes. She seemed to go through a couple of different thoughts before deciding to step into his space and hug him. Last week, Max would’ve cheered. Today, he just felt worse.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he asked her. 

“Not really.”

“Okay,” he said, “You can come to me if you need to talk.”

Isobel didn’t have to be there; he felt her judgment. He shouldn’t have offered that. She had told him that after killers placed themselves close to the crime. Coming to Liz was off-limits, she was too close, Max was too weak. 

But Liz was hugging him and that’s all he wanted.

“Thank you. I will.”

-

Michael stood helplessly outside of Alex’s window. He’d hidden behind bushes until he saw Jesse Manes leave and now he was trying to work up the nerve to go talk to him.

He knew he shouldn’t talk to him. This was his fault. This was all his fault. He was the reason there was Alex’s DNA _and_ the reason there was a crime scene to begin with. Why couldn’t he have just been smarter? He could’ve prevented this whole thing.

Michael, despite knowing it was a horrible idea, pounded against the window with his good hand. His left one still throbbed wildly, but that was okay as long as he got to see Alex’s face.

The blinds shifted slightly but didn’t move. He knocked more. The lights turned off.

“Alex, it’s me,” he hissed, “It’s Michael. Open up.”

Slowly, slowly, the blinds lifted. On the other side of the window, Alex stood looking like a ghost of himself. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was pale, his body looking frail in his rumbled up clothing. Michael wanted to drown him in hugs. 

Alex sniffled and unlocked the window, pushing it open. Michael climbed in and wrapped him up in his arms, nearly lifting him off the ground as he hugged him as tight as he could. His sniffly nose and his tiny whimpers filled Michael’s ear. All he wanted to do was tell him everything, but that wasn’t an option.

It would never be an option.

“I just heard what happened,” Michael said after he put him down. Alex stayed close, his hands gripping Michael’s shirt. “Are you okay? What did they say? How did they even suspect you or, like, _arrest_ you? I don’t understand.” That wasn’t a lie. He _didn’t_ understand. 

When he found that Isobel had killed those girls a month prior, he just thought he’d be protecting her. He hadn’t anticipated Alex being roped into this mess. How the hell was he supposed to protect them both?

“I-It was horrible,” Alex said, moving closer and laying his head on his chest, “How’s your hand?”

“Alex, forget about that, how are _you?”_ Alex still was focusing on his hand, so Michael placed it on his back. “Tell me what happened. _”_

“They came to my house in, like, the middle of the night to bring me in for questioning which was super scary. I complied and stuff, but then they arrested me under suspicion because my DNA was at the scene. They even said they had a witness,” Alex whispered. Michael shook his head involuntarily.

“A witness? How the hell?”

“I don’t know! I feel like they’re just targeting me for some reason. I didn’t do it. I don’t know how my DNA got there,” Alex cried, a new wave of tears hitting him. He raised his head to look at Michael in the eyes. “You believe me, right? I didn’t do this.”

“Alex, of course, I believe you.” _I know the truth._

Alex relaxed, resting his forehead against Michael’s solemnly. It made it harder to deal with it. When Alex’s eyes opened again, he thought about dropping to his knees and confessing every sin.

“I can’t believe my dad paid my bail and is paying for my house arrest,” Alex whispered, “I’m scared.”

“It’s going to be okay. They don’t have hard evidence or a motive or anything‒they can convict you,” Michael tried. Alex gave an uneasy little smile.

“They do have a motive,” he said, petting Michael’s chest. Michael couldn’t fucking breathe. “They think I’m in a cult. The girls had matching marks and the cave nearby had imagery and… guess who looks like they’re in a cult.”

Alex laughed but Michael didn’t find it funny. He couldn’t go down for this. He couldn’t go down for something Isobel dead. But _Isobel_ couldn’t go down for what Isobel did. What the fuck was he going to do?

“Stay, please? I don’t wanna be alone tonight,” Alex asked. Before Michael could find words, Alex leaned forward and kissed him. It was a much different kiss than the ones they’d had before. This one was seeking comfort, begging for it. As guilty as it made him feel, that was something he could do. 

He kissed him and brought him to his bed and did his best to make them both forget about reality.

-

Jim Valenti rocked back in his chair as he displayed the evidence before him.

Staring down at the face of his dead daughter was… taxing. He’d just gotten to know her, just gotten to love her. He supposed it was his fault for not being more involved from the start. Now, how much more involved could he get?

He remembered the first time he saw a handprint like that on a body in person. It was of an elderly man, a shotgun laid a few feet away from his body. He was taught that an evil alien had killed him for no reason. When he asked about the shotgun, he didn’t get an answer.

Every other time he saw it, it was only in pictures. Until now. Now he had three. That meant there was an alien out in the wild who murdered his daughter. Why her? Of all people, why her?

Her body seemed to be the worst off out of them all. Her handprint was the most visible, the break in her neck the most violent. It almost felt like a sign to him, like they knew about him and wanted to get back at him. Was that even possible? 

He flipped through pages and got to the DNA confirmation. It was a teeny, tiny strand of hair that was found by the entrance of the cave that was too short to belong to any of the girls. They’d sent it for testing and it came back as a close relative to Master Sargent Jesse Manes. The obvious next step was Alex. Well, obvious to everyone else. There had already been chatter that he was suspicious. Dark clothes, makeup, jewelry, music taste. All of it Satan worship apparently.

They held Alex for 24 hours and put a rush on the DNA confirmation. Jim wanted to make them check it again. It didn’t make sense that Alex would do this. Most of all, Alex couldn’t have put handprints on those girls… right?

“Michelle,” he called after thinking too hard about it. His wife hovered by the entrance of his office and he waved her inside. She closed the door behind herself and neared him, leaning against his desk. He stared up at her for a minute in that same admiration he felt every time he saw her. Every fuck up he ever made, she was still there. He was definitely blessed. “Do you remember Lily Manes?”

She furrowed her eyebrows and nodded slowly. “Of course I remember her. We were good friends before she left town.”

“Right,” he confirmed, “Do you remember anything… _off_ about her or Alex? When you’d take the boys to the park or babysat for her, did you notice anything?” Michelle rolled her eyes and pushed off the desk.

“That boy is innocent. I don’t know what you think his mother did to him, but whatever it was didn’t make him a killer.”

“No, no, not that,” he said, grabbing her hand to pull her closer. He thought about pulling her onto his lap, but that felt wrong when the crime scene photos of his dead love child were displayed in front of him. “I mean, was there anything _off?_ Not their relationship, but who she was as a person. Maybe she was sort of… intuitive?” How did he ask if she thought her friend was an alien? 

“What the hell are you getting at, Jim?” she asked, taking her hand away. He sighed, shaking his head. 

“Nothing, nothing,” Jim said. He needed to go to a different source. Besides, it didn’t make sense that Alex was an alien or that Lily was either. Jesse would’ve known that. The only other solution was that maybe one escaped and was getting back at the Manes family. Or, maybe Alex was befriending aliens. None of which made sense, but it had to be _something._

“I don’t know what you’re getting at, but Alex is a sweet boy. He cried during The Lion King for crying out loud. He didn’t do this, you need to prove that,” she told him. Jim sighed but couldn’t be angry at her for her insistence. None of this fucking made sense.

“I know, I’m gonna figure it out. You can go back to work,” he told her. She nodded and kissed his head before leaving.

Jim waited until she was gone before sinking into his chair. He needed to go deeper than simply “realistic” options. The fact of the matter was that this wasn’t realistic to the public. He needed to change something before this got too deep.

He had to go to Jesse Manes.

-

“Michael. Michael, wake up.”

Alex shook the boy beside him until he drowsily dragged his eyes open. Alex hadn’t slept. This was the second night in a row Michael had snuck into sleep beside him, but Alex hadn’t gotten but a few minutes of sleep in all that time. He was far too distracted trying to figure out how to get himself out of this situation. And he thought of something.

“Hmm?” Michael asked, trying his best to act awake. Alex dragged him to a sitting position, eyes wide with excitement.

“I thought of something,” Alex said, “You can be my alibi.”

“Huh?” he grunted. Alex lovingly stroked his hair and his chest. He knew he was asking for a lot, but he was stuck. So, maybe if he loved Michael enough, he would help him.

“The reason I don’t have an alibi and why my dad isn’t saying he saw me is because of what happened in the shed. And, and I know it’s really hard to come out like that, but you’re 17 so maybe they won’t put your name in the papers. All you have to do is say that I couldn’t have done the murders because you were with me and my dad caught us and hurt you and-and, God, I know it’s horrible and I really wouldn’t ever ask you to do this if it wasn’t important, but you’re all I have. You have evidence of what happened and I’m sure there’s… there’s still blood to prove it,” he said, never stopping the petting so Michael would never take it the wrong way. 

Still, Michael seemed to wake up real fast and he was moving away from Alex.

“No,” Michael said, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. Alex tried to keep a straight face, tried to not get his feelings hurt. 

“No?” Alex clarified. Michael’s breathing seemed to get heavier by the minute. 

“I don’t… I just…” Michael let out a harsh breath before looking at Alex. “You can’t just ask me to do something like that.” Alex tried not to look pathetic as he scrambled off the bed.

“I know, I know it’s big, but Michael… you’re all I’ve got. I’m going to go to prison,” Alex said. He hated himself for asking this. He hated himself for pulling this card. “Please. Please do this for me.”

Michael wouldn’t look at him.

“I-I can’t be your alibi, Alex. What if they ask me questions I can’t answer or request a DNA sample or think I helped you? What if they send me back to my foster parents? What if they arrest your fucking father and then no one is there to pay for your house arrest? There’s a million fucking reasons I can’t,” Michael said. Alex’s stomach twisted and it _hurt._ He gulped softly and held back tears. He cried too much.

“I need your help,” Alex said softly, “You’re my only hope.” 

Michael stood with his back to Alex, seemingly rigid. Alex was trying really hard not to cry. He was at risk to lose a lot, but somehow losing Michael hurt worse. He needed someone on his side. Michael was all he had.

“Please, don’t be mad at me,” Alex whispered. He was shaking and feeling like he was two seconds away from sobbing. He needed Michael on his side. “I shouldn’t have asked. I shouldn’t, I’m sorry.”

Michael eventually turned to face him and he grabbed Alex’s neck with his good hand, making their foreheads meet in the middle. Tears rolled over Alex’s cheeks and he wanted to scream. All he wanted was an alibi. That’s all he wanted.

“I don’t want to go to prison,” he told him instead. Michael nodded, wiping his tears away.

“I know, but I can’t be your alibi. If I can help some other way, I will, but I can’t do that. I can’t tell them about that night,” Michael said. Alex nodded slowly. “I’m here for you though. If you need me to come and help you calm down every night, I can, no problem.”

“Okay,” Alex said. Michael moved his hand to Alex’s heart, rubbing his thumb in small circles.

“I just can’t do that”

“Okay.”

Michael left soon after that, left Alex alone and pondering what to do now. He needed to do _something._ Sitting here and waiting to be found guilty for a crime he didn’t commit wasn’t an option. He wouldn’t be another person who spent their lives in jail for something they didn’t do. 

He was going to find a way out.

-

“I am going to kill you both! What is wrong with you?!” 

Very few times in her life had Isobel felt so full of absolute rage. Both of her brothers had their heads hung. Both of them, _both of them,_ had gone and spoken to that she had pretty deliberately stated were off-limits. Liz was off-limits from the minute the murder took place; Alex was off-limits the minute he got accused of the murder. Simple as that.

“You didn’t see him, Izzy. I had to be a total dick to him,” Michael said, pouty and pathetic, “He just wants me to help. And it’s my fault that I can’t.”

“And Liz’s best friend just got accused of her sister's murder. She needs someone,” Max tried. Isobel let out an incredulous laugh, putting her hands in her hair as she paced. Her heart felt like it was going to explode from stress.

“Guys, I know it sucks, but we don’t have a choice but to choose us over them,” she said slowly. They nodded like they understood, but they clearly didn’t. “They are humans. They have human consequences to what’s going on. Us, though? If we’re found out, we get all the shit in the world.”

“Okay, but me helping Liz doesn’t do anything!” Max argued.

“Yes, it does!” Isobel yelled back, “Both of you are both in such a state of fucking puppy love that you’re going to end up exploding from guilt! And I know, I _know_ it hurts, but if we get caught, we are going to become science experiments. People are going to fear everyone like us. We’re going to be fucking dissected and tortured and treated like scum and _I don’t want that._ I know you don’t either.”

They both nodded and hung their heads still like wounded puppies. Isobel took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She’d been feeling like she was going to pop for a month because of them. All she wanted was to protect them from what happened that night. That’s what sisters did.

“Michael,” Isobel said calmly, “I know you care about him and I know this is hard. But you can’t take back what happened so we just have to stay away.”

Michael closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Away, like, completely? Like I can’t be with him anymore?”

“If they find out that he has a secret boyfriend, you are immediately going to be put under fire. They’re going to wonder why he didn’t mention you and they’re going to question you. If they find out about the fact that Alex lied about what happened that night, then how long is it before they ask for a DNA sample? How long is it before they notice the DNA isn’t human? How long is it before they connect the deaths to us?”

She didn’t say that she was scared that they already had DNA samples. If there was a single strand of Alex’s hair, then what else did they leave? Hell, Michael was _bleeding_ when it happened. How long was it before they realized the DNA they found was different? Not human, not animal, not plant. She would be terrified for the rest of her goddamn life.

Max reached over and grabbed Michael’s shoulder, giving him a nod of solidarity.

“We can get through this without them, man,” he said. Isobel knew it was a support move and knew that Michael clearly wanted to reject it, but he nodded.

“Good,” Isobel said softly, “Now I need a nap. My head is fucking killing me.”

-

Alex was just finishing up when there was a knock on his window.

Stupidly, selfishly, he thought it was Michael. He quickly moved the blinds to see Kyle Valenti of all people on the other side. He blinked a few times, wondering if he should even open the window to let him speak. 

“Alex,” Kyle said, “Let me in.”

“Why?”

Kyle looked around before saying, “I know something.”

Reluctantly, Alex opened the window and Kyle climbed inside in the least graceful way ever. Alex took a step back as he fell to the floor. He stood to his feet with no comment, eyes wide to share the information he had. He quickly shut the window behind him.

“Is anyone else home?”

“No.”

“Any the bracelet‒you already did your little techy thing on it, right?” he asked. Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

“If you mean made sure it didn’t have a microphone, then yes.”

Kyle grinned, “Fucking genius. Okay, so, here’s the deal. I broke into my dad’s office at home and may or may not have made copies of all the legal stuff he has at home.”

Alex’s eyes widened as he took the bag off his back and dumped a bunch of documents on his bed. All of it pertained to the case and it was a ton of stuff that they hadn’t released to the public. Alex sat on the bed and picked a paper up, reading a transcript of his own interrogation.

“Holy…”

“And I stole my mom’s key and I know, like, the entire layout of the station. If you can help me with the tech stuff, turn off cameras, I can make copies of the rest and we can figure this out,” Kyle explained. Alex blinked hard and looked up at him. He’d never been more confused in his life. 

“Why are you trying to help me?” he asked. Of all people to offer to help him and commit fucking crimes for him, he didn’t expect it to be Kyle. Yet, here he was.

“Look, I know I’ve been shitty to you the last couple years.”

“You think?” 

“But I know you didn’t do this,” Kyle said sincerely, “If you go to prison, I won’t be able to make up for being a dick. So I’m gonna figure out the real killer and you’re going to help me.” 

Alex licked his lips and felt a renewed excitement in his system. This felt like old times. Granted, they used to solve fake murders and this was now the real deal, but still. 

“Okay. Give me a few minutes, I was just hacking into the bracelet to make sure it always detected me to be at home,” Alex told him, admittedly wanting to show off. Kyle grinned all wide again.

“Perfect. I’m gonna write out a game plan.”

Alex nodded and went back to his computer.

Alex needed help and while he would’ve liked it to have been Micahel, the sheriff's son wasn’t a bad choice.


	2. The Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING FINALLY GOOD GOD I'M SO SORRY  
> please, please, please tell me if you notice anything that should be tagged and isn't!

Maybe he’d had better ideas.

“What kind of man do you think I am?” Jesse accused, “I have never affiliated myself with any of those things! Neither have my sons! How  _ dare  _ you accuse me of that, Valenti!”

“I didn’t accuse you, Manes,” Jim sighed, rubbing his temples, “I was simply asking if there was a reason why both the handprint and your son’s DNA was at the crime scene.”

Jesse paced, face angry. Jim had to give it to him. This was quite possibly the only time he’d ever seen him go to bat for Alex. Rather than call him weak or demean him, he was insisting that he could never. Alex would never.

"Listen, I don't know how his DNA got at the scene, but he didn't have anything to do with that handprint, Valenti. There's evil out there and my son makes questionable decisions, but he's smarter than to get caught up like that," Jesse spat. Jim huffed, shaking his head.

"If you're so sure, then why didn't you say that in your interview?" Jim asked, "Manes, what happened that night?"

Jesse stared at him with cold eyes for a moment before shaking his head. He dismissed the whole situation and stalked out of the bunker, leaving him there to wonder what he was supposed to do next. Who else knew about aliens? 

After a few minutes of brainstorming, he decided he was sort of at a stopping point. He needed to talk to someone else. Someone who knew more. There was clearly an alien on the loose and it was dangerous. He needed to find it before anyone else turned up dead.

He slowly started making his way out of the bunker and towards his car. He let his mind slip a bit as he thought about Rosa. The one night she wasn't with him, the one night she was vulnerable, it'd gone so bad. Was this because of him? Was she targeted because of what he knew? Was this really his fault?

"Excuse me, sir?"

Jim turned quickly towards the voice and saw a tall, thin man. He looked weak and desperate, clothing tattered and face sunken in. His skin was clearly a shade of brown, but he looked sickeningly pale. 

Most importantly, there was a handprint on display on his neck.

"Good God," Jim breathed, trying not to drop his things. Instead, he sat them on the hood of his truck and went near the man. "What happened to you?"

"Someone– Some _ thing _ attacked me," he said, somehow looking up to Jim even though he was taller, "I heard I should come talk to you."

Jim thought about questioning who he heard that from, but the thought vanished from his mind almost as quickly as it entered. He became much more focused on this man.

"Can you help me?" he asked.

"Yes," Jim said honestly. He wanted to know  _ everything _ . "What's your name?"

The man leaned on Jim to steady himself.

"Noah," he said, "Noah Bracken."

-

"This is so fucking illegal."

"Yeah, but it's kind of a rush, isn't it?" 

Alex shook his head with a smile as he typed. They were crouched behind the police station, trying not to seem suspicious as Alex quickly tried to dismantle the cameras just long enough for Kyle to get in and get out.

“If you become a criminal, don’t blame me,” Alex snorted. Kyle flicked him in the arm.

“Says the guy who literally got arrested.”

“For something I didn’t do!”

“Don’t yell, we’re trying  _ not  _ to get caught!” 

“Okay,” Alex said instead of arguing, finishing one last little bit on his computer before looking over to Kyle, “You’ve got twenty minutes to copy everything.”

“I only need fifteen,” Kyle bragged.

“Don’t test me.” 

Kyle grinned, body pumped with adrenaline as he slipped in through the back door.

It was 1:10 PM. Half the officers were on their lunch break (including his father) and the other half were too wrapped up in the Desert Three case to notice young Valenti walking around. He got lucky and anyone who did see him didn’t think anything of it, thank god for both of his parents being on the force. It also happened to be the day that Mr. Kahn was on camera duty and Kyle knew from personal experience that he was more than likely doing crossword puzzles instead of watching them enough to see that they were frozen.

Kyle looked both ways before using a key he’d taken off his mom to open his dad’s office. It was dark and Kyle wasn’t going to risk actually turning on the lights. Instead, he pried open the bottom drawer of the desk and searched through the files until he found his father’s copies of the case papers. He flipped through them, taking papers he didn’t recognize.

He stopped when he saw the post mortem photos.

“Oh my God,” Kyle breathed, eyes focusing on the handprint on Rosa’s face. He’d never seen anything like that before. How did they happen? How did they think Alex was capable of doing that? 

Instead of thinking too hard about it, he shoved the papers into the waistband of his jeans and went to get the hell out of there. His mind was racing and he needed to go show it to Alex. Maybe he would know who could’ve caused  _ that.  _

“Kyle.”

Kyle’s back hit the door and he tried not to act suspiciously as his mother walked near him. She eyed him and he smiled, sucking in to make sure she wouldn’t be able to see the papers down his pants. She looked him up and down anyway.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was coming…” He hesitated for a moment too long. “To see if Dad wanted to go hunting this weekend! But he wasn’t in.”

She pursed her lips and nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll ask him when he gets home, I guess,” Kyle went on, “I’ll see you later, Mom.”

“Be home for dinner, you hear me?” she said. Kyle nodded and quickly fled before she made him crack. 

He made it back to Alex with a minute to spare.

“Here, put this in the back,” he said, lifting his shirt to get the papers. Alex made a disgusted face.

“Ew, I’m not touching those, they’ve been down your pants.”

“Such a baby.”

“Says the homophobe.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and put them in the bag himself. Alex made sure there was no trace of him tampering with the cameras before he closed his laptop and stood up. 

“Now what?” he asked. Which was a valid question. He couldn’t exactly read over stolen police documents at the Crashdown or Bean Me Up with a suspected murderer. Bringing them back to Alex’s could seem sketchy if they got caught and bringing them to Kyle’s sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. 

“I… I don’t know where to take them without risking getting caught.”

“Well, where’s somewhere that no one goes?” Alex asked, “Also somewhere that isn’t sketchy for us to be. Also close enough for me to get home quick so I don’t get caught leaving my house. I am supposed to be on house arrest, you know.”

Kyle knew he wasn’t  _ trying  _ to be complicated, but he was.

“Okay…” Kyle breathed, looking around as if an idea would just pop into his head. Which, it sort of did. “Wait, we could go to my dad’s hunting cabin. He barely ever goes there anymore.”

Alex looked at him like he’d lost it. “That isn’t close.”

“Look, do you want to be close or be caught?”

They glared at each other for a few minutes before Alex finally realized he had a point. Kyle liked when he thought of good ideas before Alex. He had to be a genius to out-think him.

“See, I’m really smart,” Kyle grinned. Alex glared at him.

“I’d hit you weren’t literally breaking the law to help me.”

Kyle felt awfully proud as they snuck towards his car.

-

“You both are going to give me a fucking aneurysm.”

“We haven’t done anything!”

Max grabbed Michael’s arm, pulling him back so he didn’t react badly to Isobel. But Michael was already fucking angry. She kept bitching at them, kept scolding them for simply  _ existing.  _ The more that was said about the case, the more she lost it even if no signs were pointing to them.

He was beginning to think maybe he wasn’t the only one feeling guilty.

“Isobel, you can’t lock us away,” Max said calmly, “We have to act normal or we’re going to be suspicious.”

“Then stop going to places where you’re more likely to fuck up!” Isobel said.

“I went to The Crashdown for a fucking burger!” Michael snapped back. Isobel glared at him and went to say something before she winced and grabbed her head.

“Just be careful,” she said calmly.

“Iz, what’s wrong?” Max asked, letting go of Michael to go towards her. She shook her head.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, “Fuck.”

Michael caved just a little bit, his head tilting to the side as he watched Isobel slowly move to sit down against the bed of his truck.

“Isobel, what’s going on?” he asked. She just held her head and let herself fall against Max.

“My head hurts.”

Michael stopped arguing. He always stopped arguing.

-

Max moved Liz’s hair off her shoulder.

“Thanks,” she sniffled. He managed a small smile and watched her take another bite of ice cream.

He knew she was off-limits, that being around her was a bad idea, but she’d called him and he couldn’t say no. Now, as he sat with her and listened to her, he was glad he hadn’t.

“I’ve never felt so confused in my life, Max,” Liz admitted, “I mean, Alex is my friend‒one of my  _ best  _ friends. I’ve known him since we were little and he loves Rosa. Or, I thought he did.”

“I don’t know Alex all that well, but he doesn’t seem like the killer type,” Max said. Then again, Isobel didn’t seem like it either.

“I know! He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met!” she groaned, laying her head on his shoulder, “He literally couldn’t even kill a roach. But then how did his DNA get there? It was the middle of nowhere.”

“I don’t know,” Max answered honestly. Even though Michael had confessed that he liked Alex, it still didn’t explain his DNA. how would Michael have even gotten it on him in the first place?

“Sometimes I just want to talk to him, hear his side, you know? I’m so tired of not knowing,” Liz said. She molded into him closer. He stared at her for a moment and got a serious urge to push her away. Why did she have to wait to get so close until after he had something to hide? “But I can’t even look at him.”

“Uh,” Max said, shifting in his seat just a little, “I can… I can talk to him for you.”  _ Shut up, Max, shut up! _

Liz lifted her head off his shoulder and looked him with wide, thankful eyes. She trusted him so much. Why did she have to trust him so much?

“You could?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my God, that means so much to me. Thank you, Max.”

He let her hug him even though he knew he wasn’t going anywhere near Alex Manes.

-

“Dude, did they even look into anyone else? It looks like they decided you did it on day one and just looked for evidence to prove them right instead of looking for the actual killer.”

Alex sighed and dropped the thick stack of paper, rubbing his eyes. There was something about reading pages and pages about why you killed your friend that was really disheartening. Stupidly, he wished Michael was looking through it with him. Even though he’d made it clear he was only in it for sex, he wanted him. He wanted to be held and kissed like he wasn’t racing against the clock to prove his innocence. Was that so much to ask?

“I don’t know,” Alex said. When he looked up, Kyle was half-way through a pretty shitty murder board. “What the fuck is that?”

Kyle whirled around with a wounded look on his face. “I worked hard on this.”

“You look like you watched too many Unsolved Mysteries episodes.”

“Jokes on you, they didn’t  _ use  _ these in Unsolved Mysteries.”

“Yeah, because  _ that’s  _ where the joke is.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and turned back to his murder board. It had borderline-comical red string connecting things, but a bunch of sticky notes on it to mark the parts that didn’t connect. On the side were all the questions. Who had a motive to kill Rosa? Who had a motive to frame Alex? Who was capable of putting those handprints on the girls? How did this person get Alex’s DNA at the crime scene? 

“I just… I don’t understand how you connect,” Kyle said, huffing softly. Alex stared at the board for a few seconds longer, almost forgetting that he was involved and becoming super interested in that handprint.

“What the hell could cause that handprint?” he asked, “That… That barely looks human. Like, it’s human- _shaped_ _ ,  _ but why is it that color? It doesn’t look like a bruise.”

“Alex,” Kyle said, sharp enough to steal his attention, “It says your hair. Who the hell got a strand of your hair?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, think,” Kyle pushed, “Anyone you’ve gotten close enough to that they could’ve gotten a strand of your hair?”

“I would’ve noticed if someone pulled my hair out.”

“Fine, anyone you’ve, like, gotten in a fight with? Or like ruffled your hair? Something like that, something where you might not have noticed,” Kyle rambled. Red flags struck Alex and he felt painfully uncomfortable. He shifted and looked very seriously up to Kyle.

“What if, whoever is framing me, isn’t framing me on purpose?” Alex said. Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. “Like, what if my hair got on someone’s clothes and they were at the crime scene and it fell off?

Kyle seemed to be holding his breath as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Okay, if I tell you this, you can’t say anything to your dad or anyone, okay? Promise me,” Alex said. Kyle nodded, becoming gravely serious alongside him. “The night of the murders, I had a guy over and we… Well, you know. What if… What if my hair got on him and he went there?”

“Alex,” Kyle said seriously, stepping closer, “Who?”

Alex started to feel sicker and sicker by the minute, tears brimming his eyes as it made more sense. No wonder he wouldn’t be his alibi. Alex blinked them away before he could let his emotions get the best of him. If someone was able to fucking frame him, they weren’t worth his tears.

He looked up at Kyle with newfound determination.

_ Questions: _

_ Why would Guerin kill the girls? _

_ How did he put the handprints on the girls? _

_ Did he act alone, or did he have help?  _

“Still can’t believe you slept with Michael Guerin of all people. Why not Zach Little? He’s hot and he’s into dudes  _ and  _ he doesn’t murder girls in the desert,” Kyle said, “Sounds like a catch to me.” Alex rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t know he was going to murder people when I slept with him,” Alex retorted. He didn’t add that he’d slept with him after the murders, nor did he ask how he knew Zach Little wasn’t straight when, last Alex had heard, he was firmly in the closet.

“Well, have you heard from him since then? Did he seem suspicious?” Kyle wondered, already prepping his marker to add any new information.

“I mean, yeah,” Alex sighed, “I asked him to be my alibi and he pretty harshly rejected me, but I took it as him being scared to outed, you know? Plus, with his personal situation, it’s not a good thing to be putting himself under the eye of police. Or… that’s what I thought, I guess.”

Kyle let out a motherly  _ hmph  _ and wrote on the board that Guerin was “a sketchy murdery mofo”. The whole thing had Alex feeling jittery and anxious, so he stood up. He needed to have something on his mind other than  _ the guy I love is framing me for murder, the guy I love is a murderer, the guy I love somehow murdered someone with a broken hand and‒  _

“Wait,” Alex said, “Michael couldn’t have done it. Or, at least, not done the killings. Maybe he was there‒he was probably there‒but his hand was broken.”

“Was it already broken then?”

“My dad broke it that night,” Alex said. Kyle’s eyes widened and he clearly went to ask about that, but Alex wasn’t about to receive any questioning on that. “I’m gonna go get some water, do you want water?”

“Um, okay,” Kyle said, voice softer than it’d been since they’d decided to look into this together. 

Alex made his way into the kitchen and began getting two glasses of water. Only, as he checked for ice, he realized there was fresh fruit in the refrigerator. It didn’t really make any fucking sense, but Alex tried not to think too hard about it as he got the two glasses.

“I thought you said your dad never comes up here,” Alex said as he walked back into the living room.

“He doesn’t.”

“There’s fresh fruit in the fridge,” Alex said. Kyle looked over to him with genuine shock on his face. 

“What?”

“Yeah.”

Alex followed Kyle back into the kitchen where they both stared at the fruit as if it was going to solve the world’s problems. It didn’t. They began looking around the kitchen, suddenly more concerned as to why his dad was coming all the way to the cabin enough to have fruit. 

Which is when they found an entirely different file.

“What’s that?” Kyle asked, looking over Alex’s shoulder as he opened it. 

It left little to the imagination. Detailed accounts of everything, even down to the handprint. It described things that Alex had presumed to be fiction. Some of them were things Alex hadn’t even  _ thought  _ about, even in a fictional sense.

“Aliens.”

-

Jim looked at all the new information Noah had given him. It was too much information.

“How do you know all of this?” Jim asked. Noah was sitting across from him at Mimi DeLuca’s bar in a back room she’d let him use when he asked. He explained he wasn’t really eager to bring a sketchy man to any place that he could be around his son and she’d complied.

“I got attacked by one,” Noah explained, “Could I get some more water, please?”

“Sure,” Jim said, “But that doesn’t explain how you know so much. Did this alien tell you everything?”

“No, I saw him kill a girl. It made him stronger, I saw it,” Noah insisted. He was clearly affected by whatever happened. 

“And that handprint… It didn’t kill you?”

“No, but it almost did,” Noah said, shaking his head, “Don’t you believe me?”

Before Jim could say maybe he didn’t, he suddenly did. He believed him quite a lot. But he was smarter than that. He had to be. Jim excused himself to get water, trying to clear his head as best he could despite the cloudiness that had overcome it. 

He passed Mimi and she gave him a tiny pendant to slip into his pocket.

Suddenly, his mind felt a lot clearer. He put on a smile and went along with whatever Noah said.

-

“Alex, let me in.”

Something was wrong. Michael knew he was supposed to stay away from Alex, but the guilt was weighing on him; he wanted to make sure Alex knew he was on his side. If Max could support Liz without outing themselves, then Michael could sure as hell show Alex that same support. He just needed Alex to know he wanted him for more than sex. 

He was going to be his alibi.

But the problem was Alex wasn’t answering him. He knew he was in there. The light was on, but he wasn’t answering. That was a fucking problem.

“Alex, open up,” Michael repeated, knocking a bit harder. He just wanted to see him. He wanted to protect him. He was willing to sacrifice himself for that.

When the window finally opened, Michael had to reroute his entire thought process. Alex stood there in nothing but low-hanging sweat pants that Michael hadn’t actually seen before. His hair was wet and his chest was glistening. Michael could smell the distinct scent of his body wash.

“Get in here,” Alex demanded. Michael blinked at him twice before he clambered through the window.

He didn’t actually have time to ask him how he was or tell him that he would be his alibi because Alex just grabbed him into a biting kiss. He could feel his brain malfunctioning as Alex stripped him of his shirt, ripping it halfway through.

Getting a proper breath in wasn’t an option. Alex pushed him into his bed, climbing on top of him and pinning him down before he could think. Things moved so fast and, honestly, he didn’t mind. He kept kissing him deeper, biting harder, distracting him more and more from whatever was in his head.

Distracting him so much that he didn’t realize he was tied to the headboard until the knots were so tight that it hurt even his undamaged hand.

“Whoa, Al–”

He was cut off by Alex shifting all his weight onto his chest and a fucking toy lightsaber was shoved under his chin, pinning him in place.

Alex was staring down at him with wide eyes, mouth set in a hard line. He looked more than a little betrayed and Michael quickly realized that maybe he should’ve expected this. Alex was one of the smartest people he knew. Of course, he would figure it out. Of course.

“You’ve got five seconds to tell me why you fucking framed me or I’m calling the cops.”

Michael was frozen with a fear he wasn’t used to having with Alex. However, it became very, very obvious that Alex knew a lot more than he could’ve ever imagined. Alex looked sort of scared, yes, but he’d decided he was going to put up a fucking fight. Because of that, Michael relaxed as much as he could, trying to show he wasn’t going to hurt him.

“What do you know?” he asked softly. Alex shoved the lightsaber harder under his chin, forcing him to make eye contact.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? Tell me everything then I can see where the lies are,” Alex said. Michael took a heavy breath, but it was hard with Alex on his chest. He seemed to notice that and lifted his weight just a little. It was super conflicting, honestly, because Alex looked hotter than ever. You know, despite the fact he looked like he would kill him.

“Okay,” Michael agreed. He knew Isobel was going to fucking kill him, but he was running out of options. He had no idea what Alex knew or didn’t know. If he lied and it didn’t match then he was fucked. “Okay. I didn’t frame you.”

“Oh?” Alex asked, his tone showing he didn’t believe him. Thankfully, his eyes betrayed him.

“I swear to God, I would never, ever put you in harm's way. I didn’t mean for your DNA to get there and I am so, so sorry that it did,” Michael said. Alex didn’t let up on the lightsaber. “But, yes, I was there that night.”

He could see Alex gulp. He knew he was right, but hearing the confirmation didn’t make him feel better. Instinctually, Michael tried to move his hands to grab ahold of him, but it pulled against his restraints and he let out a pained groan as it rubbed his damaged hand the wrong way. Alex pushed harder on the lightsaber, pushing Michael’s head into the pillow.

“Why?” Alex demanded, “What do you get out of killing Rosa? How did you do it with a broken?”

“I didn’t kill Rosa, Alex, I swear I did not kill her or any of the girls. I promise you,” Michael insisted, trying to show Alex how sincere he was. He could take Isobel and Max thinking he was a killer, but Alex? No.

Yet, Alex didn’t seem to buy it.

“You expect me to believe that?” Alex scoffed.

“Yes,” Michael said definitively, “Alex, I am so sorry. I should’ve been honest with you from the moment shit got bad for you. I wanted to. I really, really did. I’ve never felt so fucking guilty in my life. I was coming to tell you I would be your alibi.”

“So, what, you feel guilty about framing me, but you don’t feel guilty about killing three girls?”

“I didn’t kill them!” Michael insisted. Alex gave him a look that said  _ ‘shut up, my dad’s home’.  _ Michael took a deep breath. “I didn’t kill them. I saw who did and I fucking bolted.”

“Why wouldn’t you go to the police?” Alex asked, his cold exterior breaking just a little as his eyebrows twitched towards the middle, “Unless it was someone you care about and you were trying to protect them‒Max or Isobel. And, their hands weren’t broken, so they could’ve done it… So, they’re the aliens? Not you?” 

Michael felt his blood run cold and he stopped breathing, surely looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“Or… are you? Is it all of you?”

Alex’s accusatory tone was switched out for sheer curiosity. It reminded Michael that he was still a kid, still a boy who was curious about the world and not a man trying to interrogate him before he turned him over to be killed. However, the lightsaber didn’t move, so it was kind of up in the air.

“You look scared of me,” Alex said out loud. He moved the lightsaber, but Michael still couldn’t breathe. “You’re an alien.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Michael breathed. Alex blinked a few times, the thoughts behind his eyes shifting and readjusting to the situation. 

“Your friends killed three people and you let the police frame me. Even if you go to be my alibi, if you don’t say anything, I’m fucked. You fucked me over and you let me sit with that for weeks. You let me trust you and… for what?” Alex scoffed. “I don’t give a shit if you’re an alien or not. I do care that you’re a liar and an accessory to murder and that I’m going to get life in prison for it. Or, fuck, the death penalty is still a thing in New Mexico. I could die because of you.”

Michael closed his eyes, trying to remember how to breathe for a completely different reason now.

“You’ve ruined my life, Michael,” Alex said, that cold tone coming back, “You ruined my life to save an actual fucking murderer. Even if I get off, people will still think I’m guilty. I’ve done my fucking research, I know how this ends.”

“I made a mistake.”

“You and your friends destroyed my life, destroyed the lives of Rosa and Kate and Jasmine’s families, and you don’t even care because it saves yours. You only want to cover you and your friends’ asses,” Alex went on, “And everyone else be damned. I should turn you in.”

“Please, Alex… Please, if we get caught, it’s worse than jail. If they find out what we are… what  _ I  _ am, I’m done for. I’m a science experiment. I’m sorry, I am, I just‒”

“I’m not going to,” Alex said softly. He slowly untied his hands from the headrest, somehow being gentle even after everything. “I’m not as cruel as you.” Michael felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “But if you  _ ever  _ try to talk to me again, I’ll tell my dad. And, trust me, he’s a lot scarier than any cop.”

It was strange, looking up at Alex. He seemed so sure of himself and of his statement. He was using his father as a weapon and he didn’t seem to even notice. For a moment, Michael was scared for him, scared for whatever was going on that he was blind to. But then he remembered that he’d destroyed a boy he loved and it didn’t matter.

“Get out.”

-

All he needed was this.

“I can’t believe those girls got murdered by that monster. Rosa must’ve been special, huh?”

Three days. Jim had been talking to this man‒this  _ thing‒ _ for three days. He already knew he wasn’t human, he caught that quickly. He just needed proof that he was the one who hurt his daughter. 

And now he was getting it.

“I mean, why else would that boy separate her from the other two? Must’ve been special.”

How proud of himself must he have been to brag about that? Brag about details that weren’t even released to the public? Jim knew that aliens all had some level of pride about their race, but this? The audacity.

He stared down at the piles of evidence and every detail of the case, trying desperately to piece shit together. He needed something to directly tie this man to Rosa’s case. He needed proof that he did it and not Alex. A motive for why he did it wouldn’t be so bad either.

“Jimmy, come to bed,” Michelle said. His eyes looked up to where she stood in the doorway. 

Sometimes he forgot how lucky he got. Sometimes his mind would slip and he would get clouded or distracted. But then she would stand in the doorway of his home office in nothing but one of his shirts, her hair down and face bare and he remembered. 

He put the files down, giving her his full attention. She smiled at him and came closer. When he pushed away from the desk, she sat in his lap and he held her close. He liked moments like this. Quiet, normal moments. No aliens, no work, no infidelity, no addiction. Just her and him. It didn’t take much to remember Kyle’s little feet padding through the halls to find them and acting all disgusted when they kissed. The disgust stopped when the kissing happened less.

“I need… I need to figure out how to fix this,” he admitted to her. His eyes closed as she cradled his head, massaging his scalp. “I feel like there’s no answer.”

“You need to relax. Overdosing on information isn’t going to help you,” she told him, “I want you to solve this as much as you do, but you haven’t slept in days. Come to bed.”

“I know, I know, I just… I need that  _ one thing,  _ you know? Just the one thing to make it all fall into place,” Jim said. Michelle breathed against his skin and he thought about just falling asleep right there with her on him.

“Well, maybe talk to your son,” she whispered, voice reluctant. Jim blinked out of his thoughts and craned his head to her.

“Excuse me?”

“I caught him coming out of your office the other day and then found my key to the station in his pocket when I was doing clothes. Not to mention he made it no secret that he was talking to Alex on the phone last night,” she informed him, “He thinks he's so slick.”

Jim blinked in confusion. Kyle?  _ Kyle  _ was putting himself in this? Why the hell would he do that?

“As much as I don’t want him to be involved in this case, I think he already is,” she went on, “I’d rather one of us steps in before he does something we can’t fix. So, talk to him, see what he knows, and then ask him to stop.”

“What the hell could he know?” Jim asked out loud.

Michelle lifted her head and she looked at him in his eyes, really looked at him. She said nothing, insinuated nothing, but he knew. He didn’t know what she knew or how she knew it, but her silence spoke volumes. He felt a little sick.

“Okay, I’ll talk to him,” he agreed.

“Thank you.”

They sat there for another moment and then he took a deep breath, grabbing a hold of her before standing up. She held onto him tighter.

“Let’s go to bed.”

-

Isobel knew something had changed for the worse.

“Hey, what happened?” she asked softly. Michael was laying on her bedroom floor, trying his damndest to act like he wasn’t crying. He was relatively silent, but his breathing had changed and she’d been way too good at noticing little details lately.

“Nothing, leave me alone,” he grunted.

She watched his back intently. Something had gone very shitty, but she wasn’t sure. Well, she could guess. Last they’d actually talked about anything serious, they’d agreed no Liz, no Alex, and no talking about it. Sure, every new detail had her on edge, but… still. 

“You’re crying, that’s not nothing.”

“Isobel, leave me alone,” Michael said firmly.

Isobel considered it but instead chose to reach out to him. If they couldn’t talk about what was going on, they were going to explode. She was already dealing with the worst headaches of her life every five seconds.

“Don’t touch me!” he snapped when she reached for him. She jerked her hand away and watched as he turned to her, face tear-streaked and angry. “You just can’t leave anything alone, can you?”

“Wh‒”

“This is your fault, everything that’s gone wrong with Alex is your fucking fault,” Michael continued, “I-I finally found something good and it’s all fucked up because of  _ you.  _ He won’t even look at me.” 

“I only said not to talk to him because I don’t want you to feel guilty or tell him! It was for your own good!” she argued.

“Jokes on you, he’s a fucking genius,” Michael laughed, a new wave of tears showing in his eyes. Isobel could feel her blood turning cold.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“That he knows. And he figured it all out on his own,” he told her. She felt like the air was stolen from her lungs. “He knows it all. All except…”

“Except what, Michael?” she asked, horror more than clear on her face and in her voice and he didn’t even seem to notice. “Except  _ what?” _

“Except that you’re the one that killed those girls,” Michael told her. The bed seemed to drop out from beneath her as her mind swarmed.

“Wh-what? No, I‒”

“Killed them. I saw you,” he said, “You didn’t look right, but it was you.” 

Isobel didn’t know what happened after that.

-

“Have you talked to Alex?”

Max wanted to put his head through a wall. He didn’t know exactly what to tell Liz. Could he feel bad about not doing something he had no intention to do? It didn’t matter, he did anyway.

“Um, Michael did,” he said. Liz was holding onto his arms and she tilted her head to the side, no less interested even knowing that he didn’t speak to him himself. He gulped softly and tried to think of what to say. He should’ve prepared for this moment. “Alex didn’t do it, Liz.”

“How do you know?” she wondered, clutching his arms for details. He didn’t know what the hell to give her.

“Just… Just trust me. Alex didn’t do it, I know for a fact that he didn’t.”

Max watched confusion flush over her face and she held onto him tighter. He wasn’t really able to get out of her grasp without literally prying her off which he didn’t want to do, so he stayed put and stared at her. 

“How?” she asked him softly. Liz watched as he gulped and looked anywhere but at her. She’d watched enough true crime documentaries to know the signs of a man trying to figure out a good lie.

“I just do. Please don’t let this ruin your relationship with Alex, okay? He’s innocent,” Max begged.

Liz felt a little sick and she slowly let go of her grasp on him. She felt more sure than ever that Alex was innocent and that Max… wasn’t.

“Okay, thank you,” she said. Max smiled and he looked so sweet. And yet, not quite. “I’ll see you later.” He blinked a few times before realizing she wanted him to leave.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll see you later. Bye, Liz.”

Liz waited until he was outside before pulling out her phone. She dialed the number that she knew by heart and it picked up on the second ring.

“Liz?” Kyle asked. She took a deep breath.

“Are you in contact with Alex?” she wondered. She knew they weren’t exactly friends, but she knew Kyle was nothing but loyal when it came down to it.

“Uh…”

“Figured. I need to talk to both of you. Where do you guys meet?”

“Alex is on house‒”

“We both know Alex figured out how to fuck with that day one, so where do you guys meet?”

Kyle was silent for a moment before he said, “My dad’s cabin.”

Liz held her head high and watched Max drive away. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

-

“She’s  _ what?” _

“Drunk! She’s drunk, help me.”

Michael scoffed and turned his truck around, quickly heading towards the crash site that he really wasn’t that far away from. He hadn’t seen Isobel since their argument a few days prior purely for self-preservation reasons. He wasn’t expecting her to go in the desert to get wasted.

When he pulled up behind Max’s jeep, he wasn’t all that surprised to see them both just sitting in the sand. In fact, he was a little annoyed that they were just sitting all calm.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he walked closer to them. Max looked up to him with eyes that could kill.

“Michael, I thought we agreed that‒”

“That what? That it was totally fine as long as I took the fall?” Michael asked. He meant to have a lot more anger than it actually held. He was just so drained. However, Max didn’t have a reply to that. Michael sighed and plopped into the sand beside them. “I get it though. There was just… a lot of weird shit about that night.”

“I think,” Isobel said, voice higher and louder than usual as a reminder that she was definitely intoxicated, “I think I should just turn myself in.”

“No, you’re not going to do that,” Max sighed. He seemed to have lost the fight too.

“Why not?!” she asked, voice quivering slightly. Michael frowned as he watched her eyes fill with tears. “Michael’s right, I’m ruining everything for both of you. If I just… come clean, you can be with Liz and Michael can be with Alex and I can be where I belong. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure Liz is mad at me,” Max sighed.

“And Alex basically threatened to get his dad to dissect me if I ever talk to him again,” Michael added. They both looked to him with wide eyes. “But, listen, Iz. I know I said a lot of shit to you, but… Honestly, it didn’t look like you that night. Like, it  _ was _ you, but there was just this look on your face. It didn’t look like you.”

“I don’t remember it at all,” she whined, falling against Max’s shoulder with a pout on her face, “I swear I would never do that. I-I’m not a killer.”

“I know, Izzy,” Max said, hugging her close. Michael stared at them both before locking eyes with Max. They had a short, silent conversation that ended with them both on the same page.

They were all in way over their heads.

-

“So we’re in agreement that Isobel did it.”

“Well, Max’s hand is too big and Michael’s hand was broken and they both have reason to cover for her, so yes.”

“Fuck.”

Alex couldn’t help but smile as Liz leaned against him to get a better look at the murder board. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her. Well, that’s a lie. He definitely realized, he just didn’t want to. But now he was more than a little thankful that she was on his side. 

“Now we just have one piece left of the puzzle to find,” Kyle said, marveling at his masterpiece, “What was the fucking motive?”

“I don’t know,” Liz groaned, raking her hands through her hair. They both turned to watch her collapse on the couch. She was clearly thinking hard, thinking of something to piece it together. “This is all just so weird and so much. I mean, Max and Michael were still trying to be on our sides while covering for her. They tried to be good while loyal, right? So maybe there’s a piece we’re not seeing because we’re not in the situation.”

“But they’re aliens and all the files make it pretty clear that they’re evil,” Kyle said. Alex looked at him for a moment and they were both only sure about the fact that they  _ weren’t  _ sure. It just didn’t sound right that Max and Michael were evil. Even if they did assist in murder.

“Michael’s a dick, but… I don’t know, I think they’re all scared,” Alex said, “Whenever I last spoke to him, he was genuinely scared I was going to turn him into a science experiment. Maybe Isobel felt threatened?”

“Okay, but Michael didn’t kill you when he felt threatened,” Liz interjected, “And Max… Well, fuck, I basically cornered Max and he was too out of it to even think of a lie ahead of time. I think there’s something off, something we don’t know.”

“Color me impressed,” another voice said which caused them all to jump. They all looked to see Sheriff Jim Valenti standing in the doorway. Alex felt his blood run cold. Of course, of  _ course,  _ he gets caught by the fucking Sheriff. “Lot of strings you put together.”

“Um, sir, I‒” Kyle started. Sheriff Valenti held his hand up to silence him.

“You don’t need to explain to me. Like father, like son, right?” he chuckled, stepping forward to look at the murder board. Alex stayed a few steps away, ready to run if he had to. “Tell me. Where does a Noah Bracken fit in on this board?”

“Who, Sir?” Liz asked. Sheriff Valenti gave her a kind smile.

“He’s the man who I believe is guilty. He knew much more about the case than was released publically and he seems emotionally attached to not only the case, but Rosa in particular. He’s guilty, I just need one solid piece of evidence,” he chuckled. Kyle, Alex, and Liz all shared confused glances.

“But… But Max and Isobel and Michael…” Kyle started, “They’re guilty. Look, that looks like a girl-sized handprint. That guy…”

“Is attached to the case,” Sheriff Valenti said, confusion on his face as he tried to piece it together. Alex felt like his brain was short-circuiting. “How do they fit together?”

“Sir, I don’t think he was there,” Alex managed to say. Sheriff Valenti looked at him. “Michael would’ve told me if he was there.”

Sheriff Valenti took a long, deep breath. It made Alex both uneasy and like he finally had a shot at fucking being free all at once. Finally. 

“I guess we’ll just have to have a talk with them and see.”


	3. The Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad that this is finished! As much as I love this story, I just want to write flufffff. I hope everyone is staying safe and being socially conscious, I know I am!   
> Also, please take note of the updated tags!

“You do it!”

“No, you do it!”

“I swear, I will go and seduce one of them myself if you don’t just get over it.”

“Kids!” Jim said, silencing all three of them as they looked over to him. He seemed to be extremely done with hearing them argue about which of them would call which alien. “Alex, call Michael.”

“What, why me?” he scoffed. Liz stuck her tongue out at him in triumph which he ignored.

“Because you’re the one being framed, you’re the one that needs the information more than anyone else,” Jim explained. Alex glared at him. “Plus, you have the closest relationship with them and I think you can convince them to come. Do it.”

“I deserve a pizza after this,” Alex grumbled, picking up his phone and dialing Michael’s number. It picked up in two rings and he had to force himself not to roll his eyes.

“Alex?” Michael asked, a desperate tone in his voice that made something deep inside Alex feel guilty. He buried it a little more.

“Hey,” he sighed, looking at the three people staring at him, “I, uh… We need to, like, talk. About… something.”

Kyle threw his hands in the air, face twisted in a look that said, ‘dude, what?’ Alex waved him off and tried to figure out a better way to talk about this weird fucking topic.

“Okay, look, we found out some more information,” Alex said. 

Michael was silent for a moment before softly asking, “We?”

“Yeah, we,” Alex clarified, “And, well, I don’t wanna talk about it over the phone. But it’s pretty important that we talk about everything because I think we’re both missing pieces of the story. Do you think you can get Max and Isobel to come with you to meet with us?”

“Alex, who else knows?” he asked.

“No one that didn’t know before you told me,” Alex said, “It’s important. Will you help me?” 

“I…” Michael whispered. There was rustling on the other side of the line, a clear debate going on. Alex waited patiently. “Okay. Absolutely. I-I’ll do anything you need me to do. What’s the address?”

Alex gave the room a thumbs up.

-

Michael couldn’t remember a time he felt so uncomfortable.

The room was stiff with tension. The sheriff knew they were aliens and was under the impression they were all bad. That alone made the situation uncomfortable, but there was the added layer of Liz and Alex both feeling betrayed. They were both ignoring them like the plague while Kyle just glared at them with hatred. Not to mention the murder board that basically connected all the dots. Michael was beginning to think this was going to lead to the worst-case scenario.

“Does the name Noah Bracken mean anything to you?” Sheriff Valenti asked them. Michael had never heard it before, so he looked over to Isobel and Max who both seemed just as confused. “Right, well, he’s the one I think killed those girls. But, somehow, you three are involved. I need those gaps filled in.”

Again, the three of them shared looks as they tried to decide what exactly to say. What could they say without getting in even more trouble? But, then again, they were already screwed beyond belief.

“I need to know everything about that night,” Jim clarified, “Whatever you tell me is off the record.”

They all shared another look between them Max caved first. No surprise there.

“I went to the Crashdown with Michael and then went to the desert with Liz. After that, I…” Max took a deep breath. “I saw Rosa. She, uh, wasn’t herself. She told me to leave so I did. I was home for a few hours but then I felt Isobel so I went to find her. Michael got there first. By the time I got there, they were all dead.”

Liz took a shaky breath and looked away which clearly hurt Max. Michael shifted in his seat, staying silent. It was hard for him to not stare at Alex. He would have to speak. What the fuck was he supposed to say about that night? He clutched his butchered hand closer to his body.

Then Isobel spoke.

“I-I literally don’t remember that day. I woke up that morning and then I woke up with Max shaking me and, and Michael saying he lost control. So we just ran,” she admitted, fear clear in her voice. Max reached over to pull her into a hug. 

“You don’t remember?” Sheriff Valenti clarified. Isobel nodded.

“I… I’ve been having blackouts for a while, I guess. Like, for a few years,” she answered. He nodded slowly. “I didn’t think it was a big deal until then.”

“That might be a piece of the puzzle,” Sheriff Valenti said, “Michael, you were there before Max, what do you remember?”

Then all attention turned to Michael.

“Um, I went to the Crashdown with Max and then I went to the UFO Museum,” he said carefully. Alex looked the other direction. It was one simple move, but Michael couldn’t deny the loneliness it dumped on him. He didn’t want to talk about this at all, much less tell everyone in this fucking room. He’d happily buried this despite the nightmares for the last month. He didn’t want to say it out loud. “Then… I went home with Alex.”

He stopped talking and it didn’t go unnoticed. They all stared at him and then to Alex and then back to him. And Michael honestly felt like he couldn’t breathe. What was he supposed to say? The happiest day of his life turned to hell in 2.5 seconds? That if Jesse Manes hadn’t attacked him, then maybe his entire night would’ve been different? Maybe he would’ve approached the whole situation with Isobel differently if he wasn’t already scared?

“Hold on,” Alex sighed, pushing off the couch and stepping towards Michael. His face said he really wasn’t happy about it, but Michael managed to give him his attention. Or, he tried. He still couldn’t fucking breathe. “Give us a minute.”

Alex grabbed Michael’s arm and basically lugged him into the kitchen, pushing him into the refrigerator. It was disorienting enough that Michael had a moment where he wasn’t thinking of the fact that he couldn’t fucking breathe. Except it came right back and he started to think he was really going to suffocate.

“You’re panicking right now,” Alex said bluntly, “Because my dad hurt you. You’re allowed to panic about that, okay? You were hurt. You are hurt. But you need to breathe because this is important.”

“I‒”

“Breathe. In… Out… In… Out…”

They sat there for what felt like forever and no time at all, Alex coaching him to breathe in and out until he calmed down.

“Okay,” Alex said, giving an encouraging smile that took more effort than Michael was willing to acknowledge, “So just… say it. Just to me and then if you still can’t say it, I will.”

“Why is it so easy for you?” Michael asked. He didn’t care if he sounded stupid, he didn’t understand. Alex just sighed.

“My life is on the line here, I can’t deal with trauma right now,” Alex said with a laugh. It wasn’t funny. “Just say it.”

“Jesse Manes hurt me,” Michael said slowly, never breaking eye contact from Alex. There was a disconnect in Michael’s brain. Alex didn’t feel like a Manes to him and he wasn’t going to lump him in if he didn’t have to.

“One more time.” Michael looked at him pathetically. “Exposure therapy, babe, one more time.”

“Jesse Manes hurt me.”

“My dad hurt you.”

“Jesse Manes hurt me.”

“My dad hurt you.”

“Jesse Manes hurt me.”

“My dad hurt you!” 

“Alex.”

“My dad, Guerin, my dad hurt you!”

“Your dad hurt me!” 

They both stood there, staring at each other for a couple of seconds as they gathered their breath. It suddenly became a little too clear that they were fucked. They weren’t going to get what they had back. They never were. It would always be different.

“You can do it now, right?” Alex clarified. Michael swallowed hard and nodded.

By the time they got back into the living room, everyone was staring at them with different levels of horror on their faces. Apparently yelling at each other on the other side of a thin wall wasn’t exactly the best way to go about things. Still, the two of them sat back down and tried to act normal despite the fact Michael’s face was burning and his heart was still beating pretty fast.

“So I went home with Alex,” Michael said, starting up right where he left off. Still, they all were staring at him in concern. He ignored it. “His dad caught us, broke my hand, that’s why Alex didn’t have an alibi. Didn’t wanna say anything.” Despite the fact he’d said it out loud, he still brought his hand close to him and hunched over, hiding it as best he could. But this was about Alex, so he pushed through.

“Michael,” Isobel said softly.

“I’m good,” he told her, taking a deep breath before picking up from there. “Anyway, so I left that situation and that’s when I felt Isobel, so I went to her. I got there before Max, I saw her… I saw her hurt Rosa.” Liz let out a shaky breath from across the room. “But, I don’t know, it didn’t look right. It didn’t look like Isobel. Like, it was, but there was something off.” 

“Off?” Sheriff Valenti asked.

“Yeah,” Michael said, clearing his throat, “Like, she wasn’t herself. She passed out for a minute after and, when she came to, she was back to normal. I don’t know, it was weird. Isobel wouldn’t do that, I kinda… I kinda thought we’re all just evil or something and don’t know it.”

Sheriff Valenti took a heavy breath and stood to his feet.

“Right. Well, let’s get to work.”

-

“Mr. Bracken, can we speak for a minute?”

Noah looked up from his place at the bar with a welcoming smile. Jim, as angry as he was, returned it. This thing had ruined the lives of good kids and for what? He was still weak. Jim knew he was still weak.

Behind the counter, Mimi DeLuca smiled. She’d happily made a safe space for Noah, providing a place that he kept returning to. Jim always knew exactly where he was thanks to her.

“Sure, Sheriff,” he answered, spinning to face him. Jim nodded towards the back room. 

“I have some information on the man that attacked you,” Jim began. Noah’s eyes widened in surprise and he nodded. They both headed for the back room, Jim clutching the pendant in his pocket to make sure he would be okay with that he was about to do.

“So, you think you found him?” Noah asked as they got in the room. Jim thought about Isobel for a moment, the utter fear on her face when he suggested that maybe the person who committed the murders really wasn’t her. For years, Jim had been taught all the aliens were evil. Now he was wondering if maybe that wasn’t true.

Because those kids… were just kids.

“We think he targets young girls mostly,” Jim said, “And was the one who killed the Desert Three girls.”

“Oh yeah?” Noah asked, interest piqued. Always piqued.

“We think this alien has the powers to invade another mind, to take control of their body,” Jim said. Noah didn’t even react. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Noah stared at him for a moment, jaw slowly clenching and unclenching before his smile returned.

“Not sure,” he said. Jim took a deep breath, wishing he could just arrest him. But that wasn’t an option. Right now, he just had to make him even weaker so that then they could do something about it. Three untrained aliens were no match for even a naturally weak trained alien. 

“We think he took over a young girl by the name of… Well, she’s a minor, but I think you know her name,” Jim said, taking a step closer.

In his other pocket, he had a loaded syringe full of liquidated yellow powder.

“Why would I know her name?” Noah asked, smile faltering. He became super serious as he focused in on Jim, eyes trained on him like he was trying to do something. He probably was. Jim got his fingers in place on the syringe.

“How’d you get the handprint on your skin?” Jim said, “Can you do that to yourself?”

In a far too quick movement, Noah lunged at him. Jim pulled the syringe and just aimed for any body part he could, injecting his arm with straight alien poison. Noah’s face twisted as he made a strangled noise of agony before he ducked out of the way and ran out of the door. By the time Jim made it into the front of the house again, Noah was gone.

He looked around to double-check that he was gone before heading to the bar. Mimi DeLuca still had that unbothered smile on her face.

“Did you do it?” he asked. 

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Also yes,” Mimi agreed, sliding him a phone-sized screen with a blinking pinpoint along with coordinates.

“You amaze me sometimes,” he told her. She smiled a little broader and wiped the table.

“Hospitality is my job.”

-

“Murder makes us stronger?”

Isobel’s heart was thudding so hard in her chest that she could barely stand it. She knew that Sheriff Valenti was actually helping them, she knew it, but all this information was… Bad. It was so bad. She tightened the blanket around her shoulders.

“Yes,” Sheriff Valenti confirmed, “We think your people were a race of warriors. When you kill, you gain their life source. Which is the main thing that’s confusing me about Noah Bracken. He’s clearly still weak, but he killed three girls.”

“Maybe there was a barrier because he did it through Isobel’s body?” Michael suggested.

“That’s a good point, maybe that’s what it is.”

Isobel hated how into this Michael was getting. She hated how he seemed to flawlessly blend in with Liz Ortecho and Jim Valenti’s thought process. She knew they were trying to help, but only because of Rosa. She had no idea if they were going to turn on them as soon as this was over.

“So, hate to sound selfish here, but even if we do get rid of him, how are we going to fix my situation?” Alex asked.

It was strange. Isobel had expected him to be a fucking wreck, but he just wasn’t. Whenever she pointed that out to Michael, he said that Alex had been a wreck. He was just being logical right now because apparently that’s what Alex did. She found it suspicious as all hell.

“Right,” Sheriff Valenti said, “What kind of powers do you have? What are we working with?”

The question was so blunt, so forward, that Isobel retreated further into Max. Liz, Kyle, and Alex all looked to them out of pure curiosity. She felt exposed. All her life she’d avoided being a science experiment, she’d tried so hard to blend in. Now she had no choice.

“I’m telekinetic, Max is electrokinetic, Iz can influence people,” Michael explained since they clearly didn’t want to, “All pretty basic stuff, I think.”

“Influence people how?” Sheriff Valenti asked. Isobel looked over to Max and she swallowed harshly.

“Like get in their minds and make them do things. But I can’t make anyone do something they don’t want to do on at least some level or think something they don’t want to think of some level,” Isobel explained. She tugged the blanket around herself even tighter, hoping to bring some form of extra comfort.

“Okay, okay, that’s good,” Sheriff Valenti said. 

“How does that help us?” Kyle asked.

Before anyone else could answer, a sharp pain shot through Isobel’s mind again. She made a weak noise in response and shielded her eyes against Max’s shoulder as the light in the room became too much. Everyone fell silent.

“What just happened?” Liz asked quietly after a few seconds. Isobel took a deep breath, rubbing her temples before she felt a cold bottle nudge her shoulder. Michael handed her a water bottle filled to the brim with pure acetone. She took a few big gulps before trying to look at them again. Thank god for fast-acting pain relief.

“I-I keep getting these headaches,” she answered. Sheriff Valenti’s face went grim.

“We need to act fast,” he said, wiping down the dry erase side of the board and writing down the coordinates from the little tracking device. 

“What?” Max asked.

“I’m not entirely sure, but if I had to guess, the headaches are because Noah Bracken is trying to get into your mind again. He’s weak right now though and we need to attack him before he gets stronger again.”

“Love that, but, again, how does that get me off the hook?” Alex asked. Jim sighed softly and made direct eye contact with Isobel. He lingered there for a moment before looking at Michael.

“How long do you think it’ll take to train her to use your powers?” he asked. 

“Why are you asking him?” Max butted in. He was promptly ignored. However, it didn’t take a genius to know Michael was the most trained out of them all.

“Um, I don’t know. We’ve never tried to use each other’s powers before. I didn’t know that was a thing,” Michael answered. Isobel sat up a little straight.

“Why does he need to teach me?” she asked.

Sheriff Valenti closed his eyes for a minute, eyelids fluttering and fingers moving as if he was doing math in his head. Eventually, he came up with an answer and wrote on the board ‘36 hours’. 

“Okay, I’ll help. We have 36 hours to train her as best we can so we’re going to need to focus,” he said. Isobel stood up to make herself known.

“Why?” she demanded. He turned to her.

“Because you’re going to kill the thing that used your body and you’re going to use that power boost to mind-warp an entire town.”

Isobel gulped, staring at him uneasily. She wasn’t sure if she could do that. Sure, she was angry that she was in the middle of this and terrified that someone so easily got into her mind and used her body. But could she be a killer? 

“I’m not a killer,” she said softly. Sheriff Valenti nodded.

“But he is,” he told her, “And this is the only way we can help everyone. I know this is hard, but you’re the only one that can both help Alex, stop him from hurting someone else, and redeem the fact that you ran away from a crime scene in the first place all at once. This is important. Can you do this?”

Isobel looked around the room. Max looked unsure, Michael looked excited, Liz and Kyle looked challenging, and Alex just looked pleading. She ignored the throbbing behind her eyes, the temptation to give in to the pain. 

“And this is the only way?”

“The only way to be efficient,” he said. So Isobel nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

-

“Liz!”

“I’m not in the mood to talk to you right now.”

Max tried not to look too much like a depressed puppy as he lingered beside Kyle’s car. He was going to take her home so they could all wait while the Sheriff worked with Isobel and Michael. Max was already anxious leaving them alone with a man who knew more about them than they did and refused to tell them how, so he couldn’t bring himself to let Liz run off without clearing that hurt from his chest.

“Please?” he asked. She sighed in frustration, but turned around to face him. Liz crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him expectantly. “I just want to make sure you’re doing okay. A lot of stuff has come out over the last week.”

“I’m fine, Max,” she said with a forced laugh, “As fine as I can be knowing that you lied to me when I trusted you. I mean, Michael admitted everything to Alex and you couldn’t tell me anything? It’s my sister.”

“Liz, I was stuck. I didn’t know what to do,” he said, “But I’m trying to make up for it now.”

“And you’re not really helping. I mean, Michael is helping and Isobel, despite the fact that she has literally been possessed by some random guy, is going to be doing a lot just to help Alex and get some form of justice. What exactly are you doing to help?” she wondered. Max’s shoulders dropped and he realized he didn’t actually have a good response to that.

“I want to help,” he tried softly.

Liz sighed and opened the door to Kyle’s truck.

“After all of this is over, I’m leaving town,” she said simply, “So you won’t have to feel guilty for too much longer.”

He watched them drive off.

-

“Alex, can we talk?”

Alex sighed, but slowly turned to see Michael. He looked so good, it made it hard to tell him no. He really needed to work on telling him no and not feeling guilty about it. He was so tired of still wanting him even though he totally would’ve let Alex go to prison.

“What’s there to talk about? We’ve talked about pretty much everything we needed to. I know Isobel didn’t technically do it and I know you’ve spent the last 36 hours training Isobel so you can help me, but… You were of sound mind when everything initially went down. My feelings haven’t changed,” he said as firmly as he could. Michael’s face dropped, but he tried to harden it. If anything, Alex could appreciate his dedication to not manipulate him anymore.

“I was going to be your alibi, Alex, I was. That first month… I was just scared. Whenever I found out they were putting it on you, I-I just got even more scared. I’m sorry. I just want you to know I’m genuinely sorry,” he explained. Or, tried to explain. How was he supposed to fix this, really? He couldn’t.

“You hurt me,” Alex said blatantly. Michael closed his eyes. “I… I really care about you and you don’t feel the same way.” His eyes snapped right back open.

“Oh my God, Alex, yes I do,” he said, stepping closer. He quickly realized that was a bad idea and stepped back again. Alex was just staring at him in confusion which was valid since Michael was lost on what to say. “I know I acted like a dick, but I had no idea what to do. I was stuck.”

That didn’t seem to make Alex let up on any of his confusion.

“I love you,” Michael decided firmly. Alex’s eyes went wider than he’d ever seen them. It was almost funny. “And I don’t expect you to forgive me for what I’ve done, but I can’t take you thinking I don’t love you and care about you. Because I do. So much.”

“You love me, but you were willing to let me go to prison for your sister?” Alex asked skeptically. Michael squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head.

“No. No, as soon as I realized the direction it was going, I was going to help. I love you and I love Izzy, I just had no idea how to help you both at the same times. I still don’t, not really. I’m fucking flying by the seat of my pants,” Michael explained, letting out a little desperate laugh. Alex bit his lip as he watched him.

“I love you too,” he said softly after a few moments of silence. Michael’s heart swelled and he thought about hugging him but decided against it. Bad timing. “But I really need time.”

“Take all the time you need,” Michael said honestly. Alex looked around, left and right and anywhere except for Michael. “Unless…”

“If this plan works and we clean up this mess, I’m joining the AirForce,” Alex said matter-of-factly. Michael’s heart dropped.

“What? No, I–”

“It’s not up to you. If I get out of this without a felony on my record, that’s the best decision I can make. And I’ve already made it, so… Yeah.”

“Alex, you can’t just… Why would you want to do that? I don’t understand,” Michael fumbled out, trying to make sense of it. Alex just following after his dad’s footsteps? After everything they’ve been through?

“I need to get out of here. Even if it’s all better,  _ I _ still know what happened. I need to leave. I need to do something… Something better,” he explained. Michael tried not to be angry. Alex didn’t deserve angry.

“The military isn’t better, it's–”

“Not your decision to make,” he said, “And that’s final.”

Michael took a deep breath and tried to put himself in Alex’s shoes. It wasn’t that helpful, but he really fucking tried. 

“So this is it, then?” Michael asked softly. He watched a few different emotions pass over Alex’s face before he looked down. 

“I don’t, I don’t know, okay? I just need time,” he said, “I know that I still like you, but that really pisses me off.”

Michael huffed a laugh and nodded. “I get it. No pressure.”

“Maybe… Maybe after Basic, we can talk? When it doesn’t feel so fresh?” Alex wondered, eyes so hopeful that it made Michael’s heart skip a beat. Alex was still hopeful. It made it so easy to feel the same.

“I would really like that.”

“Good.”

-

There was a cave that was impossible to reach by car.

There were a bunch of small sand dunes and it was hard to navigate. Isobel did it though. Michael, Max, and Sheriff Valenti weren’t far away. They drove as close as they could and told her they would wait in case she needed them. She would probably need them.

Sheriff Valenti warned her that, after this happened, she would probably feel very  _ full  _ and heavy with power. She would probably want to exert it somehow, but she needed to hold it so they could hone it to affect the town. She was nervous that she would fuck up.

“You’re prettier in person.”

Isobel had expected a lot of things when she saw Noah Bracken. She anticipated fear or disgust or angry or all of the above. What she  _ hadn’t  _ expected, was to see this weak man in this cave and recognize him. She felt like she knew him just from feeling his presence and unwarranted empathy brew in her heart. Fuck.

She took a deep breath and braced herself against the wall of the cave. He smiled and tried to sit up a bit straighter for her. He had a nice smile, a nice  _ face.  _ He was handsome and she felt so…  _ open  _ to him.

“You are. I wish I could see the woman you’ll grow into. You’ll be stunning and powerful,” he explained, “I can help you be powerful, you know?”

“No,” Isobel said firmly, trying to avoid eye contact, “You violated me. You took over my body.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he said. Isobel looked at him in shock. He sounded sincere. “You have to understand. The pod I was in wasn’t fully in tact. For, for  _ decades  _ I was stuck in that thing, aware and alone. Then you came along.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. He shook his head slightly.

“I heard you scream, you opened your mind to me in that moment all those years ago,” Noah said softly, “I mean, you let me in. You let me have a life. I owe you so much for that. I can make it up to you if you let me.”

Isobel felt sick. She wanted Michael and Max beside her. She didn’t want to do this alone anymore. Hell, she didn’t want to do it in the first place.

“You had no right to do that, to-to make me do things I never would, to be horrible,” she said, shaking her head, “No, you had no right to use my body for anything! I don’t care what it was, good or bad, you can’t use me!”

“I know, I know. Like I said, I’m sorry,” he told her, “Please. Just… let me make things right. I think we could be happy.”

“What is wrong with you?” she spat. For a moment, she could feel Max reaching out to her to make sure she was okay. She wasn’t supposed to make small talk. She was supposed to come in here, kill him, and go. But it was a lot harder than she expected. “You’re disgusting.”

“I know you better than anyone,” Noah said as some form of counter-argument. Somehow, she knew he was right. That was the worst part. “Let me try. Please, let me try. I want to make you happy. You have so, so much potential. Give me a chance.”

Isobel froze. She hated this. She hated it. She wanted to run, she wanted someone else to do this.

Michael reached out to her mind then, encouraging rather than concerned. While Max was worried, Michael simply sent waves of  _ ‘you can do this’  _ and  _ ‘focus on what he did to you, make him pay before it gets worse’ _ . Isobel shook her head and held her chin up high.

“You hurt me and those girls and probably more people that you just never got caught for. I’m not giving you the chance to do anything more.”

Isobel held her hand out and telekinetically threw him against the wall. It took all of her focus, all of her dedication. She felt her body start to shake, trying to hold him in place. Tears sprung to her eyes as pain started striking her due to hitting her energy limit. She could feel her brothers with her, urging her to just push past it. If she could just push past it, she’d be unstoppable.

_ You can do this. _

“Isobel!” Noah yelled. He screamed her name. He knew her. He knew her name.

Tears fell past her eyes and she screamed, forcing her body to push past that limit. Her eyes closed, she screamed, she cried, she gave it her all.

When she opened her eyes and fell to the ground, Noah laid on the ground with his head twisted entirely the wrong way.

When the fuck was the power trip supposed to kick in?

-

“She did it. She did it. We gotta go.”

Sheriff Valenti watched the two boys bolt out of the car faster than should be possibly, sprinting towards their sister. He followed as quickly as he could. He knew he was the only one who had any experience with this. He didn’t  _ like  _ the way he got that experience, but still. She needed help honing it.

When they got to her, Isobel was on all fours and trying to catch her breath. He could help but notice the body on the other side of the cave, dead and motionless. He was genuinely proud that she was able to do that. He knew it couldn’t have been easy. He also knew that she had about 30 seconds before she started feeling that surge of power.

“Isobel,” he started carefully, “Are you okay?” The boys helped her sit up. Her eyes were wide and lit with a fire behind them. He knelt in front of her. 

“What do I do? What do I do?” she asked, her jaw setting as that fire behind her eyes grew.

“Do you feel that power in you?” he asked. She inhaled sharply and nodded, a conflicted look on her face. “Okay, okay, focus all your energy on that feeling, okay? Let it fester a little, okay?”

Isobel nodded, closing her eyes. She breathed heavily, clutching her brothers as hard as she could. Jim understood in that moment more than ever that they were human. Maybe not biologically, but  _ psychologically.  _ And that’s what mattered.

“Okay,” he went on softly, “Now focus on the town. Just like you focus on one person, but do it to them all. Every single one, every beating heart, every soul that’ll welcome you. And they will welcome you because they don’t know you’re coming.”

Isobel nodded slowly again, her shoulders relaxing a bit as she focused more on her mind than anything.

“Convince them Alex Manes did not do this. There is no cult activity in Roswell,” he recited. She mouthed it back, slowly becoming more and more catatonic.

They waited for a few minutes and then a few more. They waited and they waited and they waited. Blood dripped from her nose. Jim urged Max and Michael to ignore it.

Isobel came back to them with a gasp, falling forward like before. Max pulled her into his chest as she continued to reorient herself. Michael crouched beside them both, trying to comfort her as best she could. Jim smiled at them both.

“I’m proud of you,” he told her as sincerely as he could. Because he was. 

“Did it work?” she asked, still catching her breath. Michael gave her a bottle that she took a sip of.

“I’m not sure yet, but we’ll see. Either way, you did your best and I’m proud of you,” Jim insisted. She nodded and took a shaky breath, her eyes drifting back to Noah Bracken. “Max, you can help her back to the car. Michael, could you help me?”

“Yes, sir,” Max said. Jim waited and until they were out of ear shot before he turned to Michael.

“Okay, we need to write a confession note and fix him to make it seem like he commited suicide,” he told Michael who nodded easily.

“Alright, let’s get this shit over with.”

-

“So you’re cleared for real?”

“Yep,” Alex grinned, pulling his pant leg up to show off his now bracelet-free ankle. It felt good. So good, honestly. “ _ Apparently _ , they had reason to believe that my hair may have been one of the girls and it just traveled so they didn’t have enough evidence to hold me. Plus they found a body with a confession letter.”

“Well I’ll be damned, Evans really pulled through,” Kyle laughed, leaning back in Alex’s desk chair.

“Well, maybe. I haven’t really been around town yet. That’s the real test, see if people still hate me,” he said. Kyle scrunched up his nose.

“I don’t think they’ll hate you anymore. I mean, they found the real killer,” Kyle pointed out. Alex shrugged. Most people around town weren’t really his biggest fans before the whole murder thing. He didn’t know how much this was going to change. He had to assume that, no matter what, there was at least  _ one  _ person that was still convinced he did it. 

Which is exactly why he was going to enlist first thing in the morning.

“Well, whatever, my dad said he was gonna take care of the body. No one’s gonna find out what he is, so the ET trio are safe,” Kyle promised him. Alex nodded and sighed, unable to hide his smile. He felt so fucking free and happy. It felt good.

“So, you ever think about becoming a detective? You did a good job investigating. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Alex told him. Kyle flashed a cocky smile and winked.

“I’d only do that for you,” he said. Alex rolled his eyes. “Nah, but I think I’m still gonna go to be a doctor. As much fun as that was, I don’t like the idea of straight injustice happening on my watch.”

“That’s understandable,” Alex said.

“And what about you?”

“I’m gonna go be a fancy Airman.”

Kyle’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“You know there are other ways to get out of here, right? You don’t have to go to war,” Kyle pointed out. Alex sighed slowly and nodded.

“Yeah, I know, but I really want to make a name for myself and it seems like the best and easiest way,” Alex explained. Kyle made a noise of protest.

“Yeah, that’s what recruiters tell you and leave out the part where the government screws you over and leaves you traumatized and broke and homeless.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t know why exactly he laughed and hoped it was because it was a joke and not because he knew deep down he was right.

“I’ll be okay.”

“Honestly,” Kyle said with a smile, “I believe that.”

-

“How are you?”

Liz held her hands up in protest as Isobel sat up sharply in response to her voice. It’d been a little over a week, but Liz knew that Isobel was still recovering. She was more than a little thankful for what Isobel did to get justice even if there was a selfish aspect to it. That was the only reason she was stopping by the Evans’ residence on her way out of Roswell.

“How are  _ you _ ? How are you taking everything?” Isobel asked. Liz managed a little smile and shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m okay. The closest thing to justice was achieved, so I can’t be too angry,” she said.

“I know, but I feel so guilty any of it happened in the first place. I-If my mind had been stronger, then maybe‒”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re a victim in this situation too,” Liz promised. Isobel looked conflicted, but she didn’t say anything. “But, seriously, I know that took a lot out of you. Are you coping okay?”

“Yeah, I just told my mom I was sick,” Isobel answered, forcing a tiny laugh as she gestured to the empty bowl of soup on her nightstand. Liz smiled.

“Good, I’m glad,” Liz said, “I, uh… I just came to say thank you.”

“Liz, no‒”

“No, I needed to say that. And you need to hear it. You did the right thing even though it was super hard and that you were hurting too. I’m really grateful,” Liz insisted. Isobel smiled and blinked quickly, trying to blink tears away.

“You’re welcome, I guess,” she laughed, wiping her eyes.

“Do you know what you’re going to do after this?” Liz asked. Isobel took a deep breath and shrugged.

“I have no idea. What about you?”

“I’m getting the fuck out of Roswell, that’s for sure,” Liz answered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way out now. I just wanted to stop by.”

“Did you, um, talk to Max? I’m sure he’d like to say goodbye,” Isobel told her. Liz shook her head.

“No, I think we already said our goodbyes,” she sighed, “I’m still hurt by his choice to keep that from me while still hanging around me. I need a break from Roswell. And from men, honestly.”

Isobel snorted, “Good choice.”

Liz smiled and took a short look around the room, trying to think of anything else she needed to say. There wasn’t really anything she could think of. She felt like she’d gotten everything off her chest and she was really just ready to leave.

“Are you ever coming back?” Isobel asked before she could say goodbye. Liz shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know,” she answered, “I’ll see you around, maybe.”

Isobel smiled.

“I’ll see you around too, maybe.”

-

When Alex had asked him to come see him off, Michael thought it was a trap. But he still went anyway because what was he if not completely at Alex Manes’ beck and call.

Michael pulled up at the airport and tried not to feel too out of place as he blindly navigated his way to whichever area Alex was apparently at. It was confusing as all hell, but he finally spotted a man in uniform from across the room. He had to stop and take a second to take it all in before he tried to speak to him.

This was it. Alex was actually fucking leaving. Wasn’t that just horrific?

“Guerin,” Alex called before he was ready, looking up to him with a warm smile as he started to make his way closer. Michael hadn’t actually seen him in about a month and, in that time, he’d gone through all the goddamn steps before Basic. He already looked different. He was scared to see what his hair looked like beneath that hat. “I’m glad you came.”

“I was kinda shocked when you asked, not gonna lie,” Michael admitted, “I know you said you needed time.”

“Yeah, I did. I still do,” Alex said, “But… Considering what I know now that anything can go to shit at any time, I didn’t want to leave without seeing you one more time.”

Michael managed a smile and he skimmed the outfit one more time. It wasn’t Alex. It just wasn’t. But, then again, maybe it  _ was.  _ Maybe he didn’t know Alex as well as he thought he did. He swallowed harshly at the idea.

“Here I am,” Michael said, shrugging.

“So, um, what are your plans? You still going to college?” Alex asked. Michael licked his lips and wished he could say yes. However, he shook his head.

“Not right now. I… I’m kinda scared to go anywhere too far by myself considering all the Sheriff has told us about us. Not sure what’ll happen if I don’t have Isobel and Max on hand when I need them,” Michael explained. That was the simpler way to say it. It was more of a straight fear he’d do something that he wasn’t prepared for. Now that they knew their powers could grow, they also knew that they could have a mind of their own. “But maybe one day.”

“Well, I hope so. You’re too smart to let that go to waste,” Alex said. Michael took a deep breath and tried to smile.

“Are you scared?”

“No,” Alex said definitively, “I’m… excited for the future.”

“Good. That’s good.”

They sat there and stared at each other for a moment, trying to find the words to say. Were there even any words  _ to  _ say? What was someone supposed to say after all the bullshit they went through in the span of two months? And then suddenly it was overall at once and they had to act normal. Michael just found it really hard to act normal.

“Well, um, I have to go. Have to head through security and stuff,” Alex told him. 

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. I don’t wanna keep you waiting,” Michael said though his heart ached. He wanted to wrap Alex up and keep him there forever. But that wasn’t a plausible option. Alex needed to go, needed to find out who he was. “I guess, um, I guess I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a smile, “You will.”

Michael waited for him to leave, but he didn’t. Instead, Alex looked around a few times before he removed his hat. Michael’s stomach dropped at the sight of his shaved head, but he could barely even take that in before Alex’s lips pressed onto his.

The first kiss was super short and Alex pulled away just a little to make sure it was okay. Michael noticed his eyes look around one more time before Alex’s palm pressed to his cheek and he kissed him again. Michael didn’t touch him, he let him do all the touching as he gave him a long, chaste kiss. No tongue, no lip movement, just… two people pressing close because, pretty soon, they wouldn’t be able to.

“What was that for?” Michael asked when he pulled away slightly, his forehead still resting against his. His fingers were tingling, powers desperate to reach out to him and explode from the joy of being kissed somewhere so public. He tried to keep it under wraps as best he could, but he saw the way Alex smiled when he felt it. 

“I told you. I didn’t want to leave anything unfinished. I still love you,” Alex promised, “And I still need time. But maybe after Basic we can write to each other?”

“Absolutely, I would love that,” Michael gushed. Alex grinned and pulled away completely. 

“Right, so… See you soon, try not to be an asshole in the future.”

“See you soon, I’ll do my best.”

Michael didn’t leave that spot until Alex was completely out of sight.

-

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually like any of you.”

“You’re too kind.” 

Kyle rolled his eyes as he slowly pushed himself out of the booth. He’d been at the Crashdown with Isobel, Max, and Michael for an hour, but now it was time to go. Now he had to go drive to another state to go to college. That felt insane to think about, but not more insane than his summer actually went so he couldn’t complain.

“Nah, but seriously. If anything happens, I’ll be here,” Kyle said. They all smiled at him and he felt more adult than he had in a while.

“Thank you,” Isobel said.

“Yeah, seriously, thanks,” Michael added. Max simply gave an acknowledging nod. 

It was weird to think that he’d spent his last month before college hanging out with these three. But maybe that was just a consequence of all the bullshit that happened. Liz was gone, as of the week prior Alex was gone, and now he was going. He wondered where they would go.

He didn’t wonder for too long because he knew they weren’t going anywhere.

“Maybe we can meet up during Christmas break,” Kyle suggested. 

“Sounds like a plan.”

Kyle didn’t hug them, but he said his goodbyes and tried not to feel so weird about it as he made his way to the car. He was going to make something of himself and, after what happened, he knew he really could.

Back at the table, the three aliens sat and took in their situation. All their friends were gone and now they were just left with the knowledge that they were so obscenely different and would only continue to be different the more they learned about themselves. As fun as shattering shit in the desert was, they had to keep themselves contained every other moment of the day. The lines between where the peace ended and the consequences started seemed to blur each more every day.

“So, what do we do now?” Isobel asked.

“We just have to act normal,” Max said, “Do normal things. Become what’s expected of us.”

“What does that mean?” Michael wondered. No one answered.

They just had to wait and see.

**Author's Note:**

> i think this is the least amount of times i've used the word fuck in a piece this long
> 
> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


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